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Fourth GenerationDiamond, Pearl, and Platinum kicked off the fourth generation of Pokémon. Two years later, fans of the Johto region were treated to a remastered adventure in HeartGold & SoulSilver. Discuss the games, explore the features, share your experiences, and help other players out!

Deep within Eterna Forest lies the Old Chateau, and abandoned mansion aroused in mystery. Many tales of it being haunted have floated around Eterna City. Citings of ghosts have been recorded by townsfolk, but do you believe in such a unnatural presence? In general, did you find the Old Chateau interesting at all? Was it a place where you found useful for catching ghastly, haunter, gengar and rotom? Or didn't you bother with visiting? Were you disatifsfied by the little backstory to the ghost citings, would you have much prefered a little more informaiton and perhaps even a side quest to tie in with the Old Chateau?

I definitely found the Old Chateau interesting on first investigations. It held many useful items, and the creepy presence I felt while wandering in the abandoned structure made the whole experience just a little more exiciting. I used my captured ghastly throughout my Sinnoh Pokemon Journey and is now one of my strongest Pokemon -- as a gengar.

The music UGH. lol I like it since you can get Rotom there, and it's a personal favorite. But other than that, it doesn't have much going for it really. It's still really neat. I remember seeing the little girl and the butler in there. It didn't scare me as much as it scared my sister haha.

At first, the only thing that really caught my eye about it was that you could catch Rotom there, though when I finally got there I was creeped out. All the ghosts and just the creepy atmosphere gave the place a very eerie feel to it, however it made me want to explore even more.

Quote originally posted by Zayphora:

I heard a rumor that Charon lived there as a child...is it true? I never saw anything that would make me think that...

While I liked the atmosphere of the Old Chateau, I found it to be an otherwise lackluster area in terms of the story. Much like the Abandoned Ship in R/S/E, it served only as a place to gain a couple of rare items, and in this case, Rotom as well. I really think the backstory could have been elaborated on and turned into a quest either in the main story or the postgame. Team Galactic could have been after Rotom to use as a power source for one of their machines or something (at least in Platinum where it can be caught before obtaining the National Dex). According the Bulbapedia, the note found in one of the rooms was written by Charon, indicating he might have had some interest in the place already, but I'm not sure about him growing up there.

The Old Chateau is absolutely amazing. It's a great example of building narrative through gameplay and not just by spitting out dialog at the player.
Everything you gather from the Chateau, with the exception of some slight backstory through Gardenia, is brought about by what you perceive in there.

Their "hidden specialty" is the Old Gateau, which heals any status ailments. A gateau is a cake. From what we know, there was once a "butler" and a little girl. Through this gameplay element you can already begin formulating relationships in your head. The little girl may have liked cake; the butler may have been good at making cake.
Then there are hidden items. The one that I love to draw people's attention to is the Antidote in the trash can in the kitchen connected to the dining hall.
Yes, the item that cures poison is conveniently thrown away in the kitchen wastebasket.

Now, the ambiguity of it all is really where this narrative sub-plot shines. Just like the "Mewtwo Mystery" of gen 1, the player has almost all the pieces, and its up to them to piece it together.
Was this another incident of "the butler did it?" to the little girl, and so her young soul remains here, while his remains out of remorse or guilt?
Was it maybe even the girl who poisoned the butler, and if so, what could be her motives? Was it neither of them at all?
Rotom's existence here, along with the message of the "motor," seem to hint at Charon at least visiting (considering that it was he who discovered Rotom, and it can only be found in the Chateau)--did he have anything to do with this? Or was it someone (or something) else entirely?
The Gastly that roam the mansion ARE part Poison. Did they have a part in this? Or were they even here when the family was alive? If they weren't, why are they here now?
Was it even poison that killed the girl and man, or did they die of other causes?

All of these questions arise simply because the game presents standard elements in an area that we know to have some history. With the exception of the Gateau (which is, in essence, the Lava Cookie's replacement), Game Freak didn't even need to make new elements for the mansion. They already had Antidotes, sprites of people, Pokemon, TVs, and notes. All they had to do was put them together in a way that told its own story, even if it wasn't entirely obvious about what happened.
And you know what they say: a dead man tells no tales. So there's no reason for the entire story to be given away, right?

So you can safely say that I love the Old Chateau and all it has to offer to not only DPP, but the series as a whole.

(Also, Gengar can only be found in the room with the painting with red eyes...just think about what THAT could mean!)

Yeah, the Old Chateau is great, but...being honest here, it freaked me out. The only reason I went to the place is to get Rotom, and the music dslkfjslf and then suddenly little girl and butler ghosts and lksfjdsf. I'm about like Gardenia on the matter, really. Me and my friends used to come up with all sorts of theories about what could have happened, and I was always the one saying "CHARON DID IT HE KILLED EVERYBODY SLKDJFSLFDS"

And maybe he did. Hey, he's definitely evil enough to. and perhaps I am basing this viewpoint too much off of pokespe. siiiiigh

I so much went all over it that I know the Old Château by heart, when I first discovered it it really intrigued me. So I investigated, over and over again, facinated by the ghosts, I really wanted to know what happened there. So I'm very disappointed that there isn't more back-story, and that in Platinum they didn't gave us more informations about it... Actually, it was just to add a little creepy side to the forest, I'm sure they didn't think themselves to any back story. They wanted to make an old mansion, and just added the ghosts to add an extra something, but finally we could have done without them as they just decorate...

This place is awesome,i only wish they had more background story.Like it was owned by someone,who died and stuff,also some sidequests dedicate to that place!The Rotom story fits quite perfect,but it woul be nice if they had added more content there!

Oh wow, I never realised you could get Gengar in the Old Chateau! You really do learn something new every day. In any event, I thought it had a nice atmosphere for a creepy old mansion, and it was definitely elevated by being Rotom's location. I can't say that I spent lots of time there, other than for Rotom, but at least all the backstory meant that some effort was put into the location and it wasn't just a rushjob. Which is always good.

I never found out what the little girl and the butler were doing there. That creeped me out a lot. The music was also terrifying. Otherwise, there really wasn't much to explore in that place besides getting Rotom, which I promptly did before high-tailing it out of there.

My first game was platinum, and back then I barely knew anything about Pokemon. The old chateau SO creeped me out! You wouldn't believe how much time I spent trying to find the butler to ask him what the deal was with that place. It scared me so much that I had a little trouble sleeping that night. I only went in the other rooms after I got over my fear.

I loved this place so much, possibly due to my slightly gothic nature. I g there all the time to EV train and to take my chances with the dual-slot Gengar. It only appears like 5% of the time. Teehee, this plase was quite an enjoyment for me and destroyed my Writer's Blosk, allowing me to write creepypastas again! :DDD! Anyway, I was surprised that it didn't have more of a backstory. Have you ever noticed when you go into the room next to the one with the painting, the eyes follow you? I found that very interesting. Game Freak, can't you do better? More backstory!!
(You can only find Gengar in the room with the painting whos eyes follow you. You need any dual-slot cartridge in the dual slot.)

This place was seriously creepy! ;; I though it was kinda cool, but I would've much preferred it if there was a detailed back story to the place. I do love how you found Rotom in there and it was a great place to train early on in the game with some cool items, but it certainly wasn't my favourite place haha. It gets a bit tiresome treasure hunting when a Gastly pops up every 5 steps xD

I have to admit, I was reluctant to exploring this spooky place. My friends had creeped me out about it ages ago saying there were scary ghosts inside. But when I heard a little legendary came out at night, I didn't hold back.

The music creeped me out, after hastily picking up a few good items (Rare candies! :3) and avoiding a few wild Pokemon there was that old TV. You know, I thought it was just some decoration and thought there was an old program on it or something.

I got freaked out, when Rotom appeared. I literally jumped out of my bed, it was kind of hilarious. The Old Chateau, is one of the creepiest Pokemon places ever in my opinion and I'm really not keen going back in there.

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